SYDNEY: Australian womenswear label Hussy is charging into 2010 with a refreshed retail structure and strong international wholesale vision.
The trend-forward brand will launch a flagship store in Oxford Street, Paddington, before the end of this month. Hussy’s general manager Chloe Seddon said the store will be part of a new six-space retail development and will bring Hussy’s total store number to five.
The leasing agent for the development, Steffan Ippolito from Oxford Commercial Real Estate, said other stores confirmed include Kate Sylvester, Nicola Finetti and accessories label Trilby Phoenix.
Seddon said Hussy creator Marie Hatzis-Ritchie designed the store interiors, with a long counter and black and white hanging perspex displays creating a sleek appearance.
“It will open right in the middle of our third summer delivery, with lots of colourful maxis, jumpsuits, playsuits and embellishments,” she said.
The trend-oriented label will also relaunch its nearby Darlinghurst store as a multi-brand designer collective boutique called The Mixed Designer Collective. Initial brands to be stocked alongside Hussy include Cohen et Sabine, Oscar the Third and Uma & Leopold. The boutique is also scheduled to open later this month.
Seddon said she was not concerned the mix would shift attention from Hussy, but that it would offer a revived attraction for customers and a point of difference from the flagship.
The new retail presence follows the late October closure of the brand’s long-standing Strand Arcade store in Sydney, a decision made to allow the company to focus on the new outlets.
Seddon said Hussy was “global thinking” and focused on international wholesale opportunities. It has prime department stores in its sights and at the time of press, Seddon was fielding interest from Bloomingdales, Macys, Rakkos, Nordstrom and online boutique netaporter.com.
A significant order for luxury retail mecca Villa Moda for its Bahrain, Kuwait and Dubai locations had just been despatched.
Seddon said the brand currently has around 140 stockists across Australia and internationally.
In August this year, the brand launched an online sales portal, which Seddon said was proving successful. To date, Hussy has delivered orders to the US, UK, Phillipines and Singapore.
Embracing online marketing is key to its strategy, with Facebook and Twitter pages launched. A recent “tweet” from the brand indicated a sunglasses venture could soon be on the cards.
Melinda Oliver